Tomorrow on May 3th i will be traveling from The Netherlands to Turkey. The reason for this trip is the wedding of my cousin which i care alot about. He helped me alot during my wedding, so i saved up some $ for his and i accepted the 3500-4000 KM distance which i have to travel. Lucky for me, i won't be walking!
Where am i going and what can be found there?
I am traveling to Gaziantep, a city which is very close to the Syrian border. Gaziantep is well known for it's food, pistachio nuts and baklava. It might be hard to believe that Gaziantep's pistachio and baklava taste alot better in comparison to the baklava in other cities. The food in my opinion is not that special, it's just that women in Gaziantep have amazing cooking skills and most people there open their doors for anyone who wants to visit and eat something, even if it's a complete stranger.
What will i be doing?
Basically, i will be there as an "experienced" husband supporting my cousin. A turkish marriage requires alot of knowlegde about how certain things need to be arranged. There are way too many traditions in my opinion, but you have to respect those if you are marrying a turkish lady. My "job" is to support my cousing before and during the wedding. This involves:
Make sure all visitors can reach the wedding(arrange vehicles)
Make sure all deadlines are met (Get the wedding cake, arrange everything which has to be present on the wedding)
Make sure all ladies can go to a barber, get a hair cut or whatever, i am the one who has to get them there on time.
Make sure the wedding car is decorated the way the bride and groom would like it.
Make sure the wedding goes smoothly this will involve:
Arranging the songs which will be played
Making sure nobody gets in a fight for some strange reason
The wedding cake needs to be there on the right timing with the right music
Visitors will be leaving presents and money, these need to be arranged safely
Drive the vehicle which will bring the groom and bride to the wedding but which will also take them to their home afterwards.
Basically, i will be the guy who arranges everything and i will only have a couple days to accomplish this. Yes, i will get alot of help but those people will mostly do the "hand work", i will be the planner.
I am not a professional, but this is how it works
As a "best man" of the groom, the above list is a list of my tasks. I have to make sure everything is perfect, even if i don't posses the skills to do it. The groom would not choose a best man which he doesn't believe is capable of accomplishing all that. When someone is already married, well he knows everything about a wedding as he has experienced all of it. This is why he chose me as the leader of many other people who are gonna help out.
Can't wait to get back and share more
When i am back from Turkey, i'll make sure to share pictures of all this. It might be interesting to some people. Meanwhile i'm thinking about making some beautiful pictures as Gaziantep has many beautiful buildings and landscapes. If any of you, the people who read this, would like to see a picture or get information on something specific in Turkey or Gaziantep, you can leave a comment asking me for it. I will be there between May 3th and May 9th, so any date in between i will be able to get you some nice pictures or good information.
Take care everyone, hope i'll see you again in a week!